The Political World of the Marinas

[jpstevens]

Perhaps some of the reasons so many are moving to Texas. Here at Weatherford in Kemah, we have found, by a large margin, friendly, helpful neighbors and efficient, pleasant management.

[danielamartindm]

Always remember that people are basically good.

[Mithril Bham]

I have spent most of my time in island & small town communities. They can drive you crazy but there are always good people there as well. The trick is to find those good people & ignore the rest. Don't let them get to you. They are powerless unless you give them power.
Lots of good people around boats.
Try to keep a good attitude.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Understood, bt remember that some people find things to complain about wherever they go...

Jim

Yup, some can't be happy until they are unhappy.

For all people in general, there a thoughtful vs self-centered. I seek out the former to associate with, and quite frankly, it doesn't matter what the latter group says or does because it doesn't affect me and I simply couldn't care less.

[dwedeking2]

I've lived in a number of "retirement type" places in my travels and found this happens even without a boat. My take is the boredom of a poorly planned retirement (things just aren't what they thought they'd be all those years working in a cubicle) leads them to give them something to do (endless debates on little things that don't matter, committees to decide if we should re-design everything her like we had it in suburbia).

I try to avoid being swallowed up in it all and just stick to myself.

[taxwizz]

Ok Sailorboy....
What did you do that got you in s..t?
And what were the consequences?
This sounds like a good story that we all want to hear.

[redhead]

We moved here (Pacific Northwest) over 2 years ago to refit this big ole boat and because we're big we're at the commercial dock. That means fishermen, native people/first nations/Indians, a few boaters who don't want the crowd situations at the other docks.

On top of that we're from "New Yawk". The commercial guys wouldn't give us the time of day, the native people wouldn't let their children smile at us and the other "yachties" shook their heads in pity at the state of our boat.

Every day we said hello and smiled at every single person we passed. No exceptions. If they walked by as if we weren't there, they still got a hello tomorrow. My husband (who could make friends with a lamp post) just kept talking and visiting. Pretty soon the Indians named our little white dog "Eagle Bait" (only half a joke, but we were being talked to), the commercial guys couldn't believe we held over 1,000 gallons of fuel and had to come over to look, and we had an Ice Cream Social for the pleasure boaters.

And....it worked. We get crab and salmon dropped off at the boat anonymously. The commercial guys borrow our tools and loan us theirs. The pleasure boaters, well, they still think we're nuts and they're probably right. But one of them asked the other day, "How come you've got so many friends here?"

Point is, if you're snubbed - their loss. There's always someone else, a little ways up the dock that'll pass the time of day. One thing you're absolutely right about - NO CRITICISM. I'm the outsider, I don't get a vote because I'm just passing through. If the marina management doesn't want to work on your complaints there's only one thing left to do.

Vote with your boat - go on to the next marina.

[Mike OReilly]

I’m in a marina right now to do some servicing on the engine, refuel the diesel and restock the wine cellar for the final big run to NFLD. Came in here b/c the website promises oil disposal. No such luck, but such is life. No point making a sting over it...

I talked to my dockmate in my broken French and his broken English about the problem. This is the he same fellow that leapt out of his boat to helped us dock (a powerboat no less ) He and his wife immediately offered to take my used oil and dispose of it — no problem.

In my experience most people are great if you let them be great. If you approach with attitude, as is so often the case here with English speakers who are annoyed people dare to speak French around here, then I’ve never had any problems. Not saying there’s aren’t jerks everywhere, but most people are descent folk if you are descent to them.

[thomm225]

Our marina is actually pretty decent.

In the past 6 years, if you want to socialize you go to B Dock.

The other two docks were pretty quiet.

Now though the building at the beginning of C Dock which used to be a Restaurant but was closed for years is now once again a Restaurant and folks are freaking out especially the liveaboards with good reason.

Think of someone opening a restaurant on your front lawn. That's what it seem like to them.

The first Friday night the restaurant was open folks were coming down on the docks to have their pictures taken on various boats. The lady that runs the place said she got nonstop voice messages until midnight.

Before that about the only problem we had was the new sailors/boaters at the marina that would accidentally bump into your boat with theirs or the boats of others

The restaurant is dead center in the picture. It's on Little Creek with the low Chesapeake Bay in the background....Cobb's Boatyard and Marina is in the lower part across the creek

[landsend]

redhead great post. We moved to Key Largo two months to a "working' marina (lots of lobster/fishing boats). At first the locals would totally ignore us but after 60 days of hellos etc we actually are on mild speaking terms. Haven't borrowed/lent tools out yet but it is what you put out.

clicks = cliques or whatever

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by rognvald

Friends??? How loosely most people use this word. I have many social acquaintances but only a couple close friends. It's not quantity . . . it's quality. If you go through life and are fortunate to have ONE good friend, you are indeed a lucky man. In regards to sociopathic behavior, I don't think you understand the meaning of the term which is defined as "a person with a psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial, often criminal, and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience." This is quite a leap for you to make such assertions about someone you don't know and especially . . . how that person has lived his life. SV, the "Herd" is always distrustful of those who do not follow their thundering hoofs but embraces those who blindly follow their every twist and turn into mediocrity, complacency, and compliance. How easy it must be to never have to think on your own and make "sameness" the guiding light of your life. Good luck and safe sailing. . . Captain Rognvald--a man who has been labeled psychopathic, antisocial, criminal and lacking conscience. I suppose I could think of a few worse things to be called . . . well, maybe not.

Condescending isn't an attractive trait. Perhaps we've stumbled upon a cause...

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Condescending isn't an attractive trait. Perhaps we've stumbled upon a cause...

S/V,
If you keep searching, you might find a description of me that is accurate but it will not be an easy task. However, may I suggest Merriam Webster's Thesaurus as a valuable tool which has helped countless people across several generations who have difficulty communicating clearly in the English language. It is well written, provides numerous examples of synonyms for each word and can be revisited over a long period of time for those who have difficulty grasping simple linguistic meanings. I hope this helps. Good luck and safe sailing. Captain Rognvald

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by redhead

We moved here (Pacific Northwest) over 2 years ago to refit this big ole boat and because we're big we're at the commercial dock. That means fishermen, native people/first nations/Indians, a few boaters who don't want the crowd situations at the other docks.

On top of that we're from "New Yawk". The commercial guys wouldn't give us the time of day, the native people wouldn't let their children smile at us and the other "yachties" shook their heads in pity at the state of our boat.

Every day we said hello and smiled at every single person we passed. No exceptions. If they walked by as if we weren't there, they still got a hello tomorrow. My husband (who could make friends with a lamp post) just kept talking and visiting. Pretty soon the Indians named our little white dog "Eagle Bait" (only half a joke, but we were being talked to), the commercial guys couldn't believe we held over 1,000 gallons of fuel and had to come over to look, and we had an Ice Cream Social for the pleasure boaters.

And....it worked. We get crab and salmon dropped off at the boat anonymously. The commercial guys borrow our tools and loan us theirs. The pleasure boaters, well, they still think we're nuts and they're probably right. But one of them asked the other day, "How come you've got so many friends here?""

I love this. My sentiments exactly. Good for you guys.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by taxwizz

Ok Sailorboy....
What did you do that got you in s..t?
And what were the consequences?
This sounds like a good story that we all want to hear.

I didn't do anything. Most of the items in post 1 are from happy hour where I quietly drank my wine and observed the going ons around me. After a few of those happy hours with the same topics getting dicussed I thought I would share my new found knowledge with my faceless internet "friends"

[Zven]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I didn't do anything. Most of the items in post 1 are from happy hour where I quietly drank my wine and observed the going ons around me...

Ah, I think we have your problem figured out now ...
What you need to drink is: Beer.